Lu Qiancha felt as if she had just woken from a very long, very strange dream.
In the dream, she was being hunted, and she had even become the daughter of a Wolf King… only to be teased and tormented endlessly by those around her.
What a terrifying nightmare. She’d been asleep too long… it was time to wake up.
She struggled to lift her heavy eyelids.
The first thing that caught her eyes was an unfamiliar sight… a bathhouse?
The sound of water dripping was close at hand.
She turned her slightly stiff neck in confusion — and before her stretched a dazzling expanse of snowy whiteness…
Xuanmo Shigu was standing with her back to her, carefully wiping her smooth, wet back with a soft down towel, water droplets winding and rolling down her spine… and
those perfectly round, breathtakingly full…
“?!”
Lu Qiancha’s clear blue eyes immediately widened in shock!
Her mind went completely blank!
Could it be that she was still dreaming?!
Her fingertips moved uncontrollably, pinching hard at her own cheek.
“Ow~ That hurts!”
Her claws scratched her tender skin, and the sharp sting instantly made Lu Qiancha cry out—it wasn’t a dream!
Her scream immediately drew Xuanmo’s gaze. She turned to the side, her eyes precisely catching the fresh scratch bleeding on the little wolf cub’s face, and those small paws still hovering nearby…
Xuanmo’s elegant brows furrowed slightly, and she clicked her tongue in resignation. “Your claws really need trimming.”
She stretched out her slender, fair fingers, letting warm Xianli flow gently over the tiny wound. The blood and the scratch were wiped away as if by an invisible brush, leaving nothing but smooth, flawless skin.
Even the watery shine in Lu Qiancha’s eye corners from the pain was wiped away by her effortless touch.
The stinging on her face vanished, but Lu Qiancha stiffened even more! Because straight ahead in her line of sight… the visual impact was even more shocking.
“Gulp…” She clearly heard the sound of her own swallowing.
Suddenly, a thought surged through her mind — “A breathtaking sight ahead, please witness.”
No! Stop!!! She couldn’t look anymore!!! “Ssssh!”
Lu Qiancha’s little face flushed pink all at once. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, her thick, curled blue lashes trembling violently like frightened butterfly wings.
Both hands covered her eyes as she murmured to herself, trying to lull herself, “See no evil, hear no evil… form is emptiness, emptiness is form.”
“Hm?” Xuanmo watched her defensive, eyes-shielding behavior with a tilted head, a few wet strands of hair sticking to her smooth neck. “Too much steam? Is it making your eyes blurry?”
“No… no!” Lu Qiancha shook her head vigorously, like her tail had been stepped on, flinging droplets from her wet hair.
Finally, she summoned all her courage, raising her little paw to point at Xuanmo, voice splitting as she said, “Shi—Shigu! I… I’m a boy! A b-b-boy! You, you, you… how is this proper?!”
“Boy… a boy?”
Xuanmo’s expression turned odd. She thought for a moment — hadn’t this little junior disciple actually been a boy before? She paused a second and then suddenly asked a bizarre question:
“Then, you don’t know how to bathe by yourself?”
Lu Qiancha was completely thrown off by this sudden mental leap. What kind of question was that? Her instinctive reaction spilled out: “Of course I know how to bathe!!”
No sooner had she spoken than she realized it was off-topic, and jumped on the spot in frustration, “No! That’s not the point at all—”
“Oh?” Xuanmo crossed her arms and regarded the flustered little wolf cub leisurely, her gaze turning even stranger.
“So you’re telling me you’re a boy…” She paused, dragging the tone teasingly, “…but you don’t bathe like a girl?”
“That’s not true!” Lu Qiancha’s cheeks puffed out like she’d stuffed pinecones in them. “I mean! Boy! Girl! Different! Boundaries! No! Kissing!—!!!”
Her intense embarrassment made her suddenly stand up in the water.
Her small figure was a bit unstable from excitement, but she planted her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and lifted her chin to glare at Xuanmo, trying to prove her point about “the difference between boys and girls.”
“Hmph.”
Xuanmo chuckled lightly, her tone teasing: “You’re a girl now.”
Just as Lu Qiancha prepared to argue back, Xuanmo’s lips curved into a sly smile.
Slowly, she lifted one slender finger and, before Lu Qiancha could react, swiftly brushed it over a soft “key point” that rose and fell subtly with her breathing.
“Eek~☆”
A strange electric tingling exploded instantly! Lu Qiancha shuddered, a sticky, shameful whimper uncontrollably escaping her throat!
“Ahhh! Shigu!!!”
She clutched her arms tightly over her chest like a frightened little ostrich, backing away several steps, her cheeks burning red. Her blue eyes brimmed with tears of humiliation and accusation.
“W-what are you d-doing?!”
“Just making sure this little one recognizes who she really is.”
Xuanmo remained calm, even stepping closer, bending her tall, graceful body. The towering peaks of her presence felt oppressively magnified in Lu Qiancha’s view.
Her eyes sparkled with playful amusement as she closely examined the little wolf cub, who was nearly fainting from shame.
“Now…”
Xuanmo’s red lips nearly brushed those trembling pointed ears, her warm breath caressing the sensitive curves. “Tell me…”
Her voice had a teasing hook, “Are you really a boy?”
“Y-y-you… stay away from me…”
Lu Qiancha was nearly crushed by the overwhelming warmth and pressure, retreating to the cold Yu Shi edge of the pool, her back pressed to the chill.
Just one shiver.
Her body tensed like a drawn bowstring, her deep blue eyes filled with terrified helplessness, as if she were a little lamb about to be devoured by a beast.
Long hair.
“What’s the big deal? I’m not going to eat you.”
Xuanmo sighed helplessly inside, watching the little one act like she was facing a great enemy.
If she teased her any more, she’d really have to soothe the kid…
Deciding to give her a break, Xuanmo grabbed a fresh bath towel and leisurely wrapped up the dripping wet Lu Qiancha.
She turned elegantly and prepared to sink into the warm spring’s depths, enjoying the rare bath time.
“Wah—!”
Just as Xuanmo turned and shifted her weight—
A terrified scream came from behind.
Lu Qiancha, overly nervous, tried to step back to put distance between them, but her delicate foot suddenly landed on a slippery Slippery Stone.
Slip—
Splash—
Bang!
She lost her footing and her body weightlessness took over. Her panicked paws flailed wildly.
Next came a dull thud and a painful grunt—her forehead struck the hard edge of the pool with no defense.
Though at Lu Qiancha’s level, such a bump wouldn’t really hurt her… but!
It still hurt. And the frustration inside instantly multiplied a hundredfold!
“Waaah~~~”
Lu Qiancha completely deflated, like a little mushroom battered by a storm, her paws covering the quickly reddening forehead as she crouched in the water.
Her fluffy blue ears drooped limply, pressed against her wet hair. She bit her lip tightly, holding back the tears welling in her eyes, letting out only small, broken whimpers from her throat.
“Clumsy little thing…”
Xuanmo heard the noise and knew exactly what happened. She came over with a helpless sigh. Seeing the pitiful little one fighting back tears, she softened her tone.
“Where did you hit yourself? Let go of your hand and show me.”
Only quiet sobs answered, the little paws clutching her forehead stubbornly.
Xuanmo sighed again, gently grasping the slender wrist and, with an irresistible gentle strength, pried the persistent little paw away from the forehead.
The red skin was exposed in the warm mist.
Xuanmo’s right palm hovered over it, radiating a soft, warm Healing Immortal Light.
“Let’s see if you’re still running wild next time.”
Under the glow, the swelling visibly receded. Her tone mixed helplessness with barely concealed fondness. “This bathhouse floor is full of slippery stones, you almost twisted yourself into a mess.”
Finished scolding, she pinched Lu Qiancha’s pouty, aggrieved cheeks, then opened her arms, pulling the small body—still radiating the warmth and scent of the bath—firmly into her soft embrace.
OS…
Lu Qiancha struggled symbolically, but the comforting warmth and the healing light easing her temple pain, combined with the shock she’d just endured, made her give in.
The faint floral scent from Xuanmo enveloped her nose as her tense body slowly relaxed.
At that moment, a slender figure draped in a moon-white velvet bathrobe stood silently amid the rising steam.
The newcomer’s hair was silver-white like frost and snow, cascading over her shoulders untouched by water.
Her blood-red eyes were cold and calm, locking onto Xuanmo… and the wet, timid Blue Fur little wolf cub cradled in her arms.
“Xuanmo, where did you pick up this little demon?”
Her voice was sharp and clear like ice meeting jade, her gaze appraising the pair like a new curiosity, without a hint of warmth.
“Xuan Ling Shijie.” Xuanmo held the embrace, her tone calm and unassuming. “She’s the new neighbor on Tianquanfeng, the daughter of that Wolf King.”
Xuan Ling gave a simple nod, her blood-red eyes never leaving them. She lifted a hand and untied the sash.
The velvet bathrobe slid off her smooth shoulder, revealing a perfectly proportioned body glowing with a jade-like chill. She stepped into the pool and sat a short distance away.
The warm water reached her waist, but her frozen aura didn’t melt one bit.
Lu Qiancha felt that cold, probing gaze never truly left her, as if she were a lamb locked onto by a top predator.
She was too ashamed to raise her head, pretending to study the sparkling water droplets on her paws. But the prickling sensation on her back refused to fade, making her spine stiffen.
“Eeek!”
Amid this eerie silence—
A warm, wet hand suddenly landed without warning on her soft, slightly cool back.
Xuanmo’s slow voice came from behind, tinged with resigned certainty. “With paws that small…”
Her fingers gently glided along the delicate spine. “You probably can’t even reach your own back, huh?”
“Tonight… I’ll just let Shigu take care of it.”